Nationwide raises mortgage age limit to 85 years old

High street building society Nationwide is increasing its maximum age for mortgages to meet a “growing demand”.

The building society previously had a 75 year age limit on mortgage maturity, but will increase the limit by 10 years to 85 from July to help borrowers get greater support during retirement.

Nationwide said the change would allow existing customers with retirement income to borrow up to the age of 80, with a maximum age at maturity of 85.

The move comes as Halifax increases its age limit for mortgages from 75 to 80 from Monday.

The changes at Nationwide will apply to all standard mortgage products up to 60% loan-to-value (LTV) and with a maximum loan size of £150,000.

In February, Nationwide simplified its approach to assessing retirement income, and it now uses the customer’s anticipated retirement age rather than the state pension age, up to a maximum age of 70.

Henry Jordan, head of mortgages at Nationwide, said: “We are taking a series of steps to meet a growing demand from customers to be able to borrow in later life.

“These customers are often asset rich, with significant equity in their home, and they wish to have the flexibility to borrow against it.

“Access to the mainstream market has been a challenge for older customers, resulting in their needs going unfulfilled.

“This measure helps to address these needs in a prudent, controlled manner.

“Nationwide is committed to providing a range of options for all customers and this will be the first step towards developing a wider range of options for those looking to borrow into retirement.”

A recent survey by Halifax suggested that one in three 20 to 45-year-olds expected to be working beyond their retirement age to pay off their mortgage.

Among those who were not yet on the property ladder, 39 per cent believed they would be working later in life to pay for their property and one in 12 expected to be paying their mortgage throughout their life.